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Why Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc. Shares Surged

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Bio-Reference Laboratories (NASDAQ: BRLI) , a provider of clinical laboratory testing services, surged as much as 21% on the session following the release of its second-quarter earnings results before the opening bell.

So what: For the quarter, Bio-Reference produced $201.4 million in revenue, a quarterly record, and a 14% increase from the year-ago period. What makes the revenue increase even more impressive is that Bio-Reference pegged the negative effect from the polar vortex at $5 million. Net income, however, dipped year-over-year to $0.37 in EPS from $0.41, again caused by a $0.05 EPS decrease blamed on the weather. However, Wall Street was only expecting the company to earn $0.32 in EPS on $195.9 million in revenue, so it was a nice beat all around. Looking ahead, Bio-Reference suggested (as it had previously) that its third-quarter results will be relatively unchanged from the prior-year period, but that shareholders would bask in noticeable fourth-quarter year-over-year growth.

Now what: As long as Bio-Reference continues to focus on prudent cost controls I wouldn't be too concerned about weather occasionally affecting its bottom-line. In other words, the company is doing a good of controlling what it can and investors probably shouldn't punish it for weaker results caused by adverse weather. With a growth rate that has the potential to stay around 10% throughout the rest of the decade, and a forward P/E of 17 even following today's run higher, I'd suggest that even brighter days may be ahead for this company.

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Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.

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A Fool since 2010, and a graduate from UC San Diego with a B.A. in Economics, Sean specializes in the healthcare sector and in investment planning topics. You'll usually find him writing about Obamacare, marijuana, developing drugs, diagnostics, and medical devices, Social Security, taxes, or any number of other macroeconomic issues. Follow @TMFUltraLong